WELSH families told last night how they were "terrified" after being allegedly assaulted and abused by Spanish riot police following a complaint about a delayed flight.

WELSH families told last night how they were "terrified" after being allegedly assaulted and abused by Spanish riot police following a complaint about a delayed flight.

Dennis O'Connor watched in horror as armed civil guards charged his family and other passengers, who were complaining about a five-hour delay to their flight from Palma, Majorca, last Saturday.

He said batons were drawn and Spanish police put their hands on their holsters as they drove the frightened tourists, including children and elderly, into an airport corridor.

The Carmarthen father-of- two, who served with the Territorial Army for six years, said, "I am no stranger to guns and weaponry, but I was astonished and terrified that someone would be seriously hurt.

"When hands are placed on holsters it only takes a brief lapse in concentration for something tragic to happen. It was very, very scary.

Mr O'Connor said the incident would have affected some more than others.

"The youngest child was around three years of age and the oldest adult in their 80s," he said.

Now he is acting as spokesman for the 57 passengers who saw the incident, and is taking his case to the British Consulate in Madrid.

"To me this was an international incident and I will knock on the door of 10 Downing Street if I have to," he said.

His complaint outlines how the holidaymakers heading back to Bristol after half-term "were physically assaulted and had abuse screamed at them by the Civil Guard riot police together with airport police".

He was with his family at the time, including his wife Sharron, their two children, Gareth, 16, and Laura, 12, and his in-laws.

"It does add to the terror of any situation when you are worrying about what might happen to your loved ones," said Mr O'Connor. "The whole family was shaken and I do not think we will go back to Spain again unless the King himself invites us."

The incident was sparked after passengers scheduled to fly home at 8.40am decided to complain about the delay, some five hours later.

"There were a mix of people there - all ages, about half of us Welsh and the rest English holidaymakers," said Mr O'Connor. "We were frustrated and annoyed but there was no violence, not even any shouting.

"We were just asking for an explanation about the delay because nobody was around."

However, an employee on the departures gate called security, which led to the arrival of a group of 10 armed airport police and civil guards.

"I asked if any of them spoke English, but they said they did not," he said.

"I was trying to explain our side of the story and tell them there was no need for them to be there as there was no sort of incident that would warrant police intervention."

But then the civil guards charged and began pushing and drawing batons, said Mr O'Connor.

His wife's mother, who has a heart condition, was among the first to be shoved backwards by the guards.

"Several people were assaulted and though none were actually struck by the batons, I feared things would get worse," he said.

"There were children and ladies crying, and general anger at a complete over-reaction by thugs in uniform."

Now Mr O'Connor and others are demanding an inquiry into the incident.

"Afterwards, several passengers decided this should be taken on to the next level," he said. "This was unacceptable ill-treatment of British citizens on Spanish soil."

Futura, which was running the charter flight in question, said the delay was unavoidable but added that staff were investigating the alleged police incident.

Chief executive Roman Pane said, "It seems that at some stage the employees did feel threatened and thought they would need protection for their own security.

"But at this stage we cannot say what the guards' attitude was. We just know there has been a complaint.

"We will pursue this through and try to find out if there was an inadequate attitude from the civil guards."

A spokeswoman at the British Consulate in Madrid said, "Spanish police do not go around attacking people for no reason, so this is a highly unusual complaint. But we will of course take it very seriously.

"We have not received the complaint about this incident as yet, but we will look into this further after receiving the letter."

Tour operators First Choice Airlines said they would also investigate.

"We are taking this very seriously," said an airline spokeswoman.

"We are working with our agent in Majorca and the authorities to find out what happened - it is an ongoing investigation."